Courage sometimes returns to the hearts of those who are served.

- Publius Virgilius Maro (Roman poet)

The development of things is always not subject to the will of man, and Spartak originally intended to train his army in the barracks; But it was soon interrupted by a new twist. The day after the review, General Sinrida and General Bashirek returned to the barracks with ugly faces; As soon as they returned to the barracks, they met with Spartak and conveyed Adheba's new orders.

In fact, what they brought back was not an order, that is, a summoning order from Adheba to summon all the senior generals of the United Legion; Without asking much, Spartak called Tuca, and the four of them rode together to the governor's palace in Mauritania. Upon arrival at the Governor's Palace, the guards sent the four of them to Adheba's study, saying that Prince Adheba and Governor Gisgo were in a meeting.

Looking at the hurried appearance of everyone in the Doge's Palace, there was an anxious aura on their faces, which obviously made Spartak feel an atmosphere of imminent war. Adheba did not let Spartak and the others wait for a long time, and after ten minutes or so, Prince Adheba and Governor Gisgo came to the study where the four of them were.

After entering the study, Prince Adheba and Governor Gisgow lost their former courtesies; Instead, he sat down breathlessly. Prince Adheba took a few sips of the water on the table, then said to Spartak and Tuca: "General Spartakus, General Tuca; Now that Tulguta was on the verge of defeat, Hannibal had completely expelled Tulguta's army from Carthage.

What's even more deadly is that Hannibal's general Amikas has led an army of 15,000 elite to occupy the capital province of our Numidian Kingdom; We estimate that in a maximum of two months, Hannibal will end the war with Tsuguta once and for all, turning the spearhead of the invasion to our Mauritania.

Not only that, but according to reports from our soldiers on the border, Hannibal's Amikas is leading his legions to build a barracks and prepare for war on the border between us and the province of Numidia. If nothing else, Amikas may be preparing to attack us under Hannibal's orders.

It would have been impossible for us in Mauritania alone to reach the fierce attack of Hannibal's army; So, we need the help of the House of Augustus! Two generals, we know that your family has in the near future captured the provinces of the Balearic Islands and Betica, which belonged to the House of Hannibal; We hope your family can send more troops to help us stop Hannibal! ”

Spartak and Tuka looked at each other when they heard Adheba's description, not knowing what to say; Can the affairs of the Augustan family be decided by the two of them? Prince Adheba is obviously thinking too much, just by virtue of the identities of Spartak and Tuka; It was simply impossible to mobilize the army of the province of Betica, let alone to make major decisions within the family.

However, the polite things that should be said still have to be said; And this must also be said by Tuka with a special identity. So, under the gesture of Spartak's eyes, Tuka replied to Adheba and the others who were expecting in the study:

"Your Excellency Prince Adheba, don't worry! If Hannibal had mobilized his army to attack Mauritania, I believe that my eldest brother would not have been able to sit idly by; Before the expedition, he taught me the importance of friendly relations between the Augustus family and Mauritania for the Augustan family, and that it is our Augustan family duty to help Mauritania.

However, until Hannibal has yet to make sure of his movements, it is impossible for us to ask for reinforcements from our family on the basis of a few possible speculations; You know, after Hannibal's victory in the war against Zuguta, the most likely thing is to return to Sicily and attack Sardinia, the island of our Augustus.

After all, in the previous war, we of Augustus had occupied two overseas territories belonging to the House of Hannibal; Even our family killed two of Hannibal's own brothers in the war. This is no small feud, and our family must be fully prepared for a possible attack by Hannibal.

If Hannibal, after the end of the war with Zuguta, really gave up his return to Sicily for the time being, and instead led his army directly in the direction of Mauritania; I am sure that our clan will send a large number of reinforcements to support you in time. If nothing else, the army of the House of Augustus stationed in Betica can come to our aid at any time. ”

Tuka's words are still very level, everything that should be said has been said, and nothing that should not be said has been said; It seems that everything has been promised, but in fact, nothing has been promised. With the experience of Adheba and Gisgo, it is natural that Tuka's words will not fail to understand the deep meaning; However, they did not complain about it.

It's true that Amikas built a military camp in the border area to prepare supplies, but Hannibal's attack on Mauritania is not very likely; As Tuka said, the hatred between the House of Augustus and Hannibal was too deep. After ending his war with Zuguta, Hannibal most likely returned to Sicily and started a new war with the House of Augustus.

As for why Adheba and Gisgo made this picture of a war imminent, wasn't it to elicit Tuka's words and pave the way for what to say next? Although neither Adheba nor Gisgo thought that Hannibal would start a war against Mauritania, they were not afraid of 10,000; What if Hannibal had actually started a war? The necessary preparations still need to be made.

Now that Tuka has come to this point, Adheba will not continue on this topic; Adheba said directly to Spartak: "General Spartak, the review and engagement in the past two days have proved the combat effectiveness of the Combined Legion; Now we don't have any more time to train these troops.

In view of the conflicts and battles that may break out at any time in the border areas, I want you to lead the soldiers of the Combined Legion to the border areas and station; If Amikas of the Kingdom of Carthage enters our borders, you can launch a counterattack as soon as possible, and I will bear all the consequences! ”

Adheba did not directly ask Spartak to lead the combined army to the border in the form of an order, but consulted with Spartak in a negotiated tone; But could Spartak refuse? Of course not! Thus, the matter of Spartak leading the Combined Army to the border area was settled.

Later, Adheba still told everyone some things, mostly inconsequential things; After that, Adheba ended this small meeting, and Spartak returned to the barracks with the three generals. After returning to the barracks, Spartak neatly ordered the three commanders to return to the regiment to give the order to march, and the army would set off for the border early tomorrow morning.

The Combined Legion had long since grown into a huge war machine under the training of Spartacus, so after receiving the order; The officers and men of the three legions began to get busy quickly, and only waited for the official departure of the camp early tomorrow morning. From the military camp near the port of Mauritania to the border with the province of Numidia, the soldiers of the Combined Legion took only twelve days.

The situation on the border turned out to be far worse than what Adheba had described; The army of Amikas on the other side is not just preparing for war, but is ready for war. The entire 15,000 Carthaginian army, and a large number of war equipment, were arranged in an orderly manner by Amekas in the huge barracks; An attack on the defenders of Numidia can be launched at any time.

The defenders of Numidia were the three thousand Numidian javelinmen cavalry under the command of General Alaiamas, and their combat effectiveness was simply not worth mentioning; After Spartacus arrived with the Combined Army, Alaiamas withdrew directly to the rear with his 3,000 javelinmen. Spartak did not care about the departure of these three thousand cavalry, but officially began the confrontation with Amikas.

The standard Roman barracks were no stranger to Amicas, and it was no secret that Prince Adheba of Mauritania had formed an army with the Augustus family; However, Amikas had no feelings for the newly formed army. Even the Roman army has been repeatedly defeated at the hands of General Hannibal, so what is this pseudo-Roman army?

Amikas did not expect that it was General Hannibal who could defeat the Roman army again and again, not General Amikas; Perhaps carried away by the previous victory, Amikas sent a war letter directly to Spartak, hoping to have a thousand-man battle with Spartak's combined legion.

Because there has not yet been a formal war between the two sides, it is impossible for Amikas to attack against Hannibal's orders; So in such a name, Spartak did not refuse, but accepted the war letter. At nine o'clock in the morning of the next day, two miles in front of the barracks of the two sides, the 1,000-strong army sent by the two men officially met.

Amikas sent a thousand Libyan spearmen, while Spartak sent a thousand Numidian infantry under Chief Assini; From the point of view of weapons and equipment alone, it is certain that the Libyan spearmen have an absolute advantage, but Spartak is full of confidence in the army under his command. The battle began after the two Supreme Commanders established the rule that swords and guns have no eyes and no casualties.

Spartak sent Assini because he was brave and fearless, suitable for a fight of this scale, and the one sent by Amikas was obviously a general; At the beginning of the battle between the two sides, it was a bloody and life-and-death battle, and the robes behind them also cheered and cheered for their brothers.

The final result of the battle was the victory of Asini's thousand-man army, at the cost of a thousand Numidian warriors, 620 killed, 230 seriously wounded, and all the rest lightly wounded; The thousand-man team sent by Amikas were all killed, and none of them escaped. After this tragic battle, the two sides entered a long standoff, and no more clashes broke out. (To be continued.) )